MONTREAL — Rick Nash is still in New York suffering from an undisclosed injury, so this is the best time possible for Marian Gaborik to start playing like himself again.
The Rangers’ sniper was as engaged and impactful in Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Senators as he has been since his hat trick against the Bruins on Jan. 23. Yet, one game does not make a season, and in Ottawa, Gaborik had no goals, no assists, and an even plus-minus rating.
But that would be blind to the reality of his performance. In his 25:08, the 31-year-old Slovak flew up and down the ice, created open space, controlled the puck and had a team-high seven shots on goal. With the score tied 2-2 in the third period, Gaborik rattled a shot off the crossbar, and in overtime, he clanked another off the right post.
He even just missed converting in the shootout. If he had been successful, many of the ails of the inconsistent Rangers, now a middling 8-6-2, could have been temporarily pushed to the background.
“We had some chances to score,” Gaborik said, speaking in the plural when a more honest assessment would have been singular. “That’s just how things are going for us.”
So with Nash set to miss his third game in a row tonight against the Canadiens (11-4-2) at the Bell Center, Gaborik will hope to continue filling the void. That’s something he has even done literally, taking Nash’s spot on the right wing with Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin.
“That line played well,” said a testy coach John Tortorella when asked specifically about Gaborik after the game.
It’s no surprise Tortorella was so terse, as one of his tenets — “Our best players need to be our best players” — seems to have mostly fallen on deaf ears. Exemplified by the drastic and acute fall-off from star center Brad Richards, the Rangers are struggling to create much offense. So much so, when they lost to the Canadiens 3-1 on Tuesday at the Garden, the result prompted Tortorella to say that if he were a fan, he would have asked for his money back.
Yet Gaborik, with his team-leading seven goals, seems to be coming into his own. Now he’s hoping to drag the team with him.
“I feel good. I had some chances, some zone time. We generated some scoring chances. It’s been going for us like this with some bad bounces. We just have to keep plugging, Gaborik said. “There are a lot of games left.
“For us to keep going, we need to build on this. If we go to Montreal and play like this, we should be successful.”
* There was no update on defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who left Thursday’s game midway through the third period after taking a hard hip check from Marc Methot. It looked to be his right leg or hip that was bothering him, and the team said he will be evaluated this morning. In case of a needed replacement, the team recalled Steve Eminger from Connecticut (AHL), where he was on a two-week conditioning stint.